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Posts Categorized: Competitive Advantage

The reports that Apple has been considering a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) acquisition (or at least significant investment) in British car maker McLaren have thus far been played down by both parties. But there are several compelling reasons to take the reports seriously. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 22nd, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37436171 Discussion 1) “In the car industry… Read more »

There are two huge topics of discussion in Silicon Valley right now. The first is “Who will win the level 4 autonomy race, Tesla or Uber?,” and the second is “Is Apple in trouble?” Source: LinkedIn Pulse Date: September 20th, 2016 Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/six-reasons-smart-folks-worried-apple-jason-calacanis?trk=eml-b2_content_ecosystem_digest-hero-22-null&midToken=AQH2XEf9DJ0DqA&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=1CMvbpe3qJTno1 Discussion 1) Why does it matter than the #1 company in the U.S. and a… Read more »

Big companies are now embracing open source. If more companies are turning to software, they are going to need someplace to store all that code. Enter GitHub, the hot startup behind the popular online source code repository used by thousands of individual developers as well as big-name companies like John Deere, SAP, and Microsoft. These… Read more »

How Amazon arranges its warehouses – it’s a total mess! Source: TechCrunch Date: September 13th, 2016 Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUVLZmDKeT-mV4H3ToYXIFYg&v=5TL80_8ACPc Discussion 1) What can other companies learn from the way Amazon does things at their warehouse? 2) Which companies might most benefit from copying Amazon?

Microsoft recently purchased the professional networking site LinkedIn for $26.2 billion dollars. Is it a good fit? Source: Wall Street Journal Date: September 13th, 2016 Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-gains-link-to-a-network-1465922927 Discussion 1) Microsoft “hopes to jump-start its software packages by connecting them with LinkedIn’s vast network” of 400 million users. “Hopes” seems a little weak a word when you spend $26.2… Read more »

After months of rumors and criticism online, Apple confirmed Wednesday that it will eliminate the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Those who buy the newest iPhone will either have to go wireless with Bluetooth headphones, buy a pair of corded headphones that can connect through the Lightning port… Read more »

The cyber arms NSO Group was founded in 2010 and is based in Herzliya, an attractive city north of Tel Aviv that is known as being a cluster of tech start-ups. The group was likely funded by the elite 8200 Intelligence Unit, an Israeli military-funded scheme for start-ups. Source: BBC Technology Date: September 1st, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37192670… Read more »

This is a confiscated smartwatch showing a student’s math data. In Thailand, being brought up to be polite, tolerant, and respectful hasn’t prevented rampant cheating on university entrance exams, now aided by embedded cameras, smartwatches and all other manner of high tech gear. Source: Toronto Star Date: September 1st, 2016 Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2016/05/11/thailands-students-reveal-their-vice-cheating-by-device.html 1) How might you prevent… Read more »

This technology allows someone to accurately map where, and for how long, a person is. Source: CNN Date: August 25th, 2016 Link to video: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2016/08/15/shopping-tracking-technology.cnnmoney Discussion 1) Where else might this sort of technology be really useful? 2) If you were buying this technology for your company, what sorts of concerns might you have?

A leading web analytics company says in a new report that traffic from Facebook to some of the top news publishers declined at double-digit rates in the second quarter of this year. SimilarWeb found that Facebook visits to some media companies are down by as much as 50% compared with the first quarter. Source: Fortune Date: August… Read more »